The Witch and the Tower - Details
Plot Details
The story begins with a flash of bright light that everyone in the forest can see, including the Witch, who is busy with her morning errands. Stunned, she and the rest of her little village end up following the source of the light and strangeness, and can see that a clearing has appeared with a nicely manicured lawn and a very tall tower, white marble decorated with gold. The villagers can sense there is something strange about it; the magic around the place is unnatural and feels like a wizard's magic, and the tower seems to rise higher than anyone down in the woods can see. The Aunt, nervous, contacts some of the other villages that live in the Woods; she is the youngest of the Elders of the village and is afraid of the people who are coming, but she has to talk to them to find some way to make the Tower disappear.
The Witch, who barely remembers any life outside of the Woods, is of course fascinated by this new development, and only becomes more so when she steals another visit to them and sees two beautiful strangers standing on the balcony above the tower's door. But she's too nervous to speak up at first, and when she realizes they've probably noticed her, she runs away. The next time she dares to visit, the Knight recognizes her and tells her that they are both glad that she came back, and that she can come in and see the place for herself.
The Witch enters and meets the Lady as well, and they are both very kind to her and very welcoming. But she can see there's something strange going on; they both seem very sad, and won't quite tell her everything, and the tower itself seems to have a mind of its own. However, she is still dazzled by the beautiful place and the beautiful people who seem so happy to see her, happier than she remembers anyone else being when she comes around. They show her around, and everything is new and fascinating. She is delighted with the attention and decides that if she can hurry off and tell the rest of the village that they're good people and don't mean them any harm, then they won't have to do whatever terrible thing her aunt is so afraid of. She goes down to try to leave so that she can tell them, although the Lady and the Knight seem reluctant to let her go. But when she goes downstairs and tries to leave, she can see only a blank wall where the door used to be. She sees the same thing that the others see when they look at the wall. She's trapped.
The Witch spends a lot of time trying to find a way out. She talks to the others, upset that they let her in, only to find that they didn't know this would happen. She begins to learn that these two aren't as happy as they seemed, and that the reason that they are here is because their families didn't approve of them being together and hired a wizard (yes, both families contributed) to trap them there and teach them a lesson. All they have to do to escape is to admit that their relationship was a mistake... something that they are both too proud to do. Time is different there in the Tower; they tell her it seems like they've been there for years, and it felt like months between seeing the Witch the first time and seeing her a second time. She also learns that the relationship between them is growing more and more strained. They fight a lot, and it's becoming more and more difficult to make up. The Knight fell in love with the Lady because he felt like she needed him; she was somewhat sickly and he wanted to be her hero. She was attracted to him for his brilliant strategic mind, but now she finds him and his wit and intelligence grating. The Witch at one point grows frustrated at their arguments and tells them both that they're both the most beautiful people she's ever met, and she doesn't understand how they can hate each other so much. She has a crush on both of them together, but after some time they all realize that she's in love with the idea of them as a perfect tragic couple, and so gets upset when they fight. All three of them have to come to terms with how they feel to understand why the Witch is trapped.
In the end, the Knight and the Lady do come to a sort of peace, although they know by then they're not meant for each other the way that they'd once thought (and the way the Witch had thought when she saw them together.) They realize that the reason the Witch is captured is because the two of them were desperate for company, and the Tower had been meant to trap them and see to their every desire. It couldn't have pulled her in, but when she came in of her own free will, it was able to keep her there. But since the two sincerely do care for the Witch - since for a time that was the only thing they both agreed on, which was simply easier than trying to actually have a conversation - they both decide to ask the Tower to let her go, in the hopes that it would listen to what they wanted. And it works.
The Witch, surprised by this, is at first upset at being unwanted, but then they tell her that she needs to make an informed choice, and that keeping her trapped here without knowing she would be trapped there was wrong. So she decides to go home, to see what had happened with the other Elder... and learns that she's been gone less than a week. The Elders are preparing a ritual that, rather than banishing the Tower, will destroy it utterly; they are asking the Spirits for help and the Spirits are not kind to intruders.
Panicked, she runs to the Tower and goes back inside. The others are shocked to see her, but she says that she's come to beg them to do what their families want. If they really care about each other at all, they'll be able to find each other again, and decide if they can be friends or lovers or anything else in the real world. She tells them that if they don't, the Elders' rituals will destroy them utterly. They both ask what will happen to her; she answers that she wants to see them again too, and promises to find them in the real world someday. So, at the very last second - the ritual is audible below, and is nearly complete - she convinces them both to renounce the Tower, and the Tower disappears in a flash of light, leaving the Witch behind in the clearing that is already starting to darken.
The Witch means to keep her promise, and prepares to leave the Forest. Her aunt tries to stop her, to protect her, but her mind is made up - the Witch is, as her aunt tells her, very much like her sister (the Witch's mother.) So, after promising to come back someday if she can, the Witch leaves the Forest, intent on finding the truth about the world.